As Richard advised, I mixed it with my regular bread flour at 25 : 75 ratio and at 67% hydration and kept the method very simple and basic to get to know this flour. In the end, I added a bit more water because it felt a tiny bit stiffer than my regular basic sourdough, so the final hydration became about 70%, which is exactly the same as my regular dough. I think it’s probably due to the higher gluten level of the flour I used (Waitrose Leckford Estate Strong flour. 13.6% protein), compared to Richard’s regular flour, Untreated Organic White from Shipton Mills with 11.3% protein.

I baked in the late evening and left it on a worktop overnight, and sliced it first thing in the morning for my breakfast and sandwich for my husband. The first thing I noticed was how moist the crumb was. It reminded me of a few loaves I baked a few years ago which included some oats flakes. And the loaf kept its moistness very well for whole three days until we consumed it all. So it’s definitely a bread that keeps well. Also it had subtle but very pleasant nutty flavour. It was lovely as it is, but even better when toasted, too. I think I’ll increase the proportion of Four Grain flour a bit next time, probably to 30% or so.

Comments

I am glad you enjoyed the loaf and the flour. I do like it and the biggest problem with it is the carriage costs from the watermill :( . Your bread looks lovely as usual. A bit better than the one that I baked yesterday using a similar recipe but I think that was more to do with the long run that I had to load it into the wood fired oven than anything else, I must get a table near the outdoor oven so that I can take the loaf out of the proving basket, slash it and load it into the oven within a few seconds. Still, the baguettes I baked in it turned out quite good (but no great "ears") but I need a peel long enough to fit a decent sized baguette on.

Thank you, Richard, for your comment and, more importantly, lovely flour! :) I'm planning to bake another one this week, this time with 30-35% Four Grain flour. What's the highest proportion you've used this flour?

Sorry it has taken me a couple of days to reply, I've been preparing for a couple of meetings at the end of the week. Anyway, I have used up to approximately 35% of the 4 grain in a dough but then I added 10g of vital wheat gluten - whether it needed it or not :) .

My next batch with 1/3 Four Grain flour is proofing as we speak, will be due for baking in a hour or so. For this batch I used Dove's Organic Bread flour which is lower in protein than the previous one (Waitrose Leckford Estate), so I'm a bit nervous how it'll turn out. Will post the result when it's done. Pray for me!!!!

Those loaves look as if they have caught the "Mary Poppins" characteristics - "practically perfect in every way". They look delicious, I'm glad you are liking the flour. Good luck with 50% of the 4 grain. I might try that myself if you produce a better loaf than the last two bakes (if that is possible) :) .

Glad to see you posting again :-) I figured you were resting after the terrific get together you helped organize.

Lovely loaf.

Do you happen to know the different grains used in your flour blend? I am wondering if it tells you on the sack somewhere what they include so I can see if I can come up with a similar blend using my grains.

Thank you, Janet. :) The info on the flour is as Richard told you below. Was a bit nervous using it at first as there's not mention about protein level or as such on the bag at all, so had no idea how the flour would behave. Bread flour I usually use is quite high in protein (see above), so I hoped it'd give enough strength to the dough and it was only 25% Four Grain flour I mixed in, so in the end it turned out alright fortunately.

Good luck with your trial with mixed grain loaf. I've used oat flakes several times before and I think it really helps keep the moisture as well as giving a good crunch to the crumb.

"Stoneground Wheat Flour with Cracked Rye Flakes, Barley Flakes and Oat Flakes. A lovely crunchy texture and delicious taste for biscuits, crumble tops and flapjacks, as well as a solid loaf full of flakes. After two or three days, it makes very good toast."

Thanks for the grains included in this loaf. I have them sitting in my basement waiting to be used :-) My kids like all 3 grains when I put them in loaves. Will see what their reaction is when I combine all in a single loaf. I have combined rye and barley many times when making D. Leopard's 'Barley Rye Loaf' but have never added oats.

Will give this a go when my lean loaf lover returns from his camping trip at the end of the week :-)

Hi, Syd! :) I've been hiding behind that tree over there. Can you see it? :p ..... well, in truth, I've only been baking my regular loaves lately, so thought it'd be a bit boring to blog about the same old things. :p

Thank you for your kind words. As I said to Richard above, I'm thining of trying this flour again this week but at higher proportion, so will post about the result. ;)

very tender and light loaves you have produced using some Watermill flour.

I wondered if you fancied making bread just using this flour only? We did that exclusively at the Red Herring in Newcastle where I worked from 1987 until 1993. Sponge and Dough, or a generous Bulk Fermentation process both work well.

Richard is right; Watermill postage costs are prohibitive; but the flour is unique.

Richard advised me to mix 25-30% Four Grain with strong flour, so that's I'm doing at the moment as a start. As I said above, the next bake will be with 30-35% Four Grain, and hopefully I'd get more feel of how this particular flour works. Then I'm planning to up the proportion to 50% and decide if I want to increase it more or not.

Thank you, Phil. It was the first time I've ever used flour milled in that way, so it felt really special. There's been some movements in UK in recent years to revive old run-down water/windmills, so I'm hoping there'll be more of such a mill in the future.

Hi lumos,A lovely loaf with a gorgeous bloom, baked with that special flour.Isn't it wonderful when friends share? I've been the grateful recipient of others' generosity - and it's been a lot of fun baking bread with the flour friends have so kindly shared with me. So good to see your post!:^) breadsong

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